Hinge assembly



Oct 5 1954 H. s. VAN BUREN, JR 2,690,586

HINGE ASSEMBLY Filed April 26, 1951 \NvEN-ro\=\: HARoLD vAN BURENJR., BY Wim AGENT.

Patented Oct. 5, 1954 HINGE ASSERIBLY Harold. S. van Buren, Jr., Cambridge, Mass., as-

signor to United-Carr Fastener Corporation, Cambridge, Mass., a corporation of Massachusctts Application April 26, 1951, Serial No. 223,061

(Cl. 16m-142) 1 Claim.

This invention relates generally to a hinge asn sembly, and. has particular reference to a hinge member and a hinge arm adapted for use in attaching an eyeshield to the Visor of a cap or the like.

The object of the invention is to provide a hinge member for assembly onto the visor of a cap or the like which is adapted to receive a hinge arm in such a manner that the arm is tiltable therein and adjustable laterally in relation to the visor.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hinge member having hinge arm-receiving portions and a spring member associated therewith in which assembly of the hinge arm causes compression of said spring member.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a hinge assembly comprising a hinge member and a hinge arm in which the hinge member has spring means which must be flexed to allow insertion of the hinge arm, and said hinge arm has spring-engaging means disposed thereon to further flex the spring when the hinge arm is rotated therein into a predetermined position.

Other objects of the invention will, in part, be obvious, and will, in part, appear hereinafter.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of a cap having an eyeshield attached thereto by means of a hinge assembly which embodies the features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged View in elevation, partly in section, of the hinge assembly of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 in which the eyeshield has been moved into a position parallel to the visor of the cap;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of the hinge member shown in Figs. 1 to 3;

Fig. 5 is an end view of the hinge member of Fig 4; and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the hinge arm shown in Figs. l to 3.

Referring to the drawing, there is illustrated a hinge assembly Ill, comprising a hinge member I2 and a hinge arm I4 which are adapted for use in attaching an eyeshield I6 onto the visor I8 of a cap 2B or the like.

The hinge member I2 comprises generally a base 22, a pair of substantially parallel lateralli7 extending side walls 2li, and a leaf spring member 26 disposed on the base and extending laterally therefrom between the side walls. The base 22 is provided with an opening 28 to receive a rivet 30 for attaching the hinge member to the visor I3, and is provided with a pointed tongue 32 for piercing into the material of the visor when the hinge is assembled thereon to prevent rotation of the hinge about the attaching rivet. To provide means for receiving the hinge arm It, the side walls 2li are provided with opposing slots 3d which extend a substantial distance longitudinally of the side walls to allow longitudinal adjustment of the hinge arm therein as will be hereinafter described. The spring 26 has an oiset portion 36 to provide an end portion 33 which is spaced from the plane of the base, and is disposed generally between the slots 3d.

The hinge arm Ill is provided with an opening Iii? on one end to receive a rivet 42 for attaching the arm to the eyeshield i6, and a hinge-engaging portion. at the other end comprising a pair of laterally extending slot-entering pins M and a springengaging portion it disposed therebetween. The slot-entering pins M, have substantial width so that the edges 48 are spaced longi tudinally from the spring-engaging portion d6 to provide a bearing surface for engagement with an edge of the slot.

To assemble the hinge arm into the hinge, the side walls 211i of the hinge may be spread at the ends to allow the slot-entering pins 4d to pass therebetween, and the spring 26 is depressed toward the plane of the base far enough to allow said members to enter the slots. An important feature of the illustrated construction is that the normal, that is, unexed position of the spring, in relation to the slots is such that the spring must be flexed to enable the hinge pins to be assembled therein. Although the position oi the spring in any particular case will depend on the width of the slot and on the size of the pins, it has been found desirable in most cases that the normal position of the spring should be at least as far away from the plane base as the furthest edge 50 of the slot, so that substantial exing of the springA will occur when the hinge arm is assembled in the hinge.

As illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, after assembly the bearing surfaces 8 of the pins bear on the edges 5G of the slots, and the spring 26 bears against the intermediate portion 46. The hinge arm I4 is rotatable in the hinge through an angle slightly greater than ninety degrees, so that the eyeshield may be moved from the down position of Fig. 2 into the up position of Fig. 3. it will be noted that the spring 26- is flexed to a greater degree when the eyeshield is in the down position, since the intermediate spring-engaging portion IB extends longitudinally on the arm beyond the bearing surfaces 43 thereby retaining the spring closer to the plane of the base and flexed more than is the case when the eyeshield is in the up position. Hence, as the eyeshield is moved to the up position, thereby rotating the pins 4d, the point of contact of the spring with the springengaging portion moves longitudinally in relation to the points of contact of the bearing surfaces with the slot edges 5B, so that the pressure of the spring causes the spring-engaging portion of the arms extending beyond the bearing surfaces to act as a lever to cause the eyeshield to snap upwardly toward the visor (see Fig. 3). When the eyeshield is moved from the up position to the down position, the rotation of the spring-engaging portion about the bearing surfaces causes the end thereof to move toward the plane of the base and thereby increase the ilexure of the spring.

Since the point of contact of the spring with the arm, when the eyeshield is in the up position, is substantially directly over the bearing surfaces, there is no tendency for the eyeshield to move in either direction when it is in this position, and even if the eyeshield is not exactly perpendicular in relation to the Visor, the friction of the engagement between the spring and the arm will be sufficient to retain the eyeshield in position. The upward snapping action occurs only after the eyeshield has been rotated upwardly toward the visor through a substantial angle.

The length of the slots 34 permit the hinge arm to be longitudinally adjustable therein, when the eyeshield is in either the up or the down position.

The pins 44, which are substantially flat in the illustrated embodiment, may have any other convenient shape. If desired, the spring-engaging portion 46 may extend further beyond the pins 54, to provide more flexing of the spring when the eyeshield is moved to the down position.

Since certain other obvious modifications may be made in the device without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all 4 matter contained herein be interpreted in an i1- lustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

A hinge assembly for use in attaching an eyeshield to the visor of a hat or the like, said assembly comprising a hinge member having a base at one end thereof for attachment to a visor, a pair of spaced parallel side walls extending laterally in the same direction from said base, each of said side walls having an elongated rectangular slot formed therein, said slots being placed in the same relative position in their respective side walls to form a guideway, and a leaf spring member secured at one end thereof to said base and extending forwardly therefrom between said side walls, said spring member having a substantially flat portion extending at least the full length of said slots in angular disposition thereto when in unassembled form; and a snapaction hinge arm positioned between the spaced side walls of said hinge member in normal parallel alignment therewith, comprising a body portion for attachment to an eyeshield, a fiat surfaced spring engaging portion secured to the forward free end of said body portion, and a slotengaging pin of generally rectangular conguration extending laterally outwardly from each side of said spring engaging portion, said slot engaging pins having substantially flat top, bottom, and side surfaces so that when positioned within the slots of said side walls, the bottom surfaces of each will rest against the bottom edge of each slot, and the fiat surfaced spring engaging portion will deect the flat portion of said leaf spring member thereby placing said fiat portion under tension, and in substantially parallel relation to said slots.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 66,103 Olds June 25, 1867 889,539 Morg June 2, 1908 

